Vault A35, Thoreau, Unit 1
SURVEY #90a
Image not to be reproduced without permission of the Concord Free Public Library
Finding aid copyright 1999, Concord Free Public Library.
EXTENT: ca. 265 items + related photocopy, transcripts, and printed materials (one five- drawer flat storage unit for surveys, plus two containers)
ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT: Organized into four series: I. Surveys, 1846-1860; II. Survey-related notes, mss., etc., 1840-1861; III. Manuscripts, [1862], [n.d.]; IV. Correspondence, 1836, 1855, [n.d.]. Surveys and most survey-related materials arranged according to Library-devised numbering system (by and large alphabetical by name of property owner).
BIOGRAPHY: American author, lecturer, naturalist, student of Native American artifacts and life, transcendentalist, land surveyor, and life-long resident of Concord, Mass. Active opponent of slavery and social critic.
Born July 12, 1817, son of Concord storekeeper and pencilmaker John Thoreau and Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau. Graduated from Harvard College and began keeping a journal--the source for much of his writing--in 1837. Taught public school in Concord briefly in 1837. Lecturer for Concord Lyceum from 1838. Sought (largely unsuccessfully) to publish pieces in periodicals from late 1830s. Travelled down Concord and Merrimack Rivers with brother John in 1839. Ran private school with John 1839-1841, John’s illness and death putting an end to the enterprise. Lived in Emerson household 1841-1843. Tutored children of Emerson’s brother William on Staten Island 1843-1844. Returned to Concord and, in 1845, built house on Emerson’s land at Walden Pond, where he lived from summer of 1845 until Sept., 1847. In summer of 1846, jailed overnight for non-payment of poll tax in protest against slavery. His piece "Resistance to Civil Government," reflecting this experience, was published in E.P. Peabody’s Aesthetic Papers in 1849. While at Walden, wrote first draft of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and kept journals which he later worked into Walden, or, Life in the Woods. A Week, published at author’s risk in 1849, did not sell and the remaining copies were returned to Thoreau (1853). Walden was published in 1854.
Actively took up land and property surveying in 1840s, working both for Town of Concord and for private property owners. Thoreau’s friends included Emerson, Alcott, and Channing in Concord, H.G.O. Blake of Worcester, and Daniel Ricketson of New Bedford. Journeyed to Cape Cod in 1849 and 1853, to Canada in 1850, to Maine in 1853 and 1857, and to Minnesota (with Horace Mann, Jr.) in 1861.
Thoreau’s essay "Walking," published posthumously in the Atlantic Monthly for June, 1862, was based largely on journal entries for 1850-1852. Thoreau had delivered lectures entitled "Walking" in 1851/1852 and 1856/1857. Close to his death, he revised his material in preparing the manuscript submitted for publication in the Atlantic Monthly.
Died of tuberculosis on May 6, 1862. Sister Sophia edited unpublished manuscripts, resulting in publication of several posthumous books--Excursions (1863), The Maine Woods (1864), Cape Cod (1865), A Yankee in Canada (1866). Emerson edited letters (Letters to Various Persons, 1865). H.G.O. Blake published four volumes based on selected journal entries (Early Spring in Massachusetts, 1881, Summer, 1884, Winter, 1888, Autumn, 1892). Thoreau biographer H.S. Salt and F.B. Sanborn edited poems (Poems of Nature, 1895). Complete works: Riverside Edition (1894); Walden Edition (1906); Princeton Edition (ongoing to date).
SCOPE AND CONTENT: Papers 1836-[1862], including 195 land and property surveys and maps (1846-1860), survey-related notes, manuscripts, etc. (1840-1861), other manuscript material ([1862] and [n.d.]), and correspondence (1836, 1855, and [n.d.]).
Surveys are primarily of land and property in Concord, Mass. (including three of Walden Pond). Collection also includes surveys of land in Acton, Bedford, Boxborough, Carlisle, Framingham, Haverhill, Lincoln, Littleton, and Stow, one well-known survey of the Concord River "from East Sudbury to Billerica Mills," and one of Eagleswood in Perth Amboy, New Jersey (done for Marcus Spring). Surveys include properties belonging to A. Bronson Alcott, Edward Carver Damon, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Francis R. Gourgas, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edward S. Hoar, Samuel Hoar, Edmund Hosmer, John Hosmer, David Loring, the Concord Mill Dam Company, Abel Moore, John Brooks Moore, William Munroe, Daniel Shattuck, Samuel Staples, Cyrus Stow, the Town of Concord, and others. Most of the surveys are pencil or ink drafts; a few are finished products in ink. The sizes and dimensions of individual surveys vary considerably, the largest being the rolled river survey (38 x 233 cm.). Although not strictly a survey, Thoreau’s "Statistics of the Bridges Over Concord River, Between Heard’s Bridge and Billerica Dam ... " is included in the survey collection, as are several traced or copied maps.
Survey-related notes, manuscripts, etc., include measurements and calculations, field notes, and other material generated by Thoreau in the preparation of his surveys. Thoreau used the manuscript volume he entitled Field-Notes of Surveys Made by Henry D. Thoreau Since November 1849 (containing dated entries from 1849 to 1861, plus some material tipped or laid in) to record work done for various employers, measurements, expenses, and fees charged.
Manuscripts consist of [1862] publisher’s manuscript of "Walking," published in Atlantic Monthly for June, 1862 (v. 9, no. 56; Borst D49) and later in the collection Excursions (first published in Boston by Ticknor and Fields, Oct., 1863; Borst A3.1) and two undated manuscript fragments or notes. The manuscript of "Walking" contains numerous deletions and emendations by Thoreau; portions of it are in the hand of Thoreau’s sister Sophia. The original is accompanied by a complete photocopy, by a (1975) typed transcript by Thomas Blanding, and by photocopy of the piece as printed in the Atlantic Monthly.
Correspondence includes three letters to Thoreau: Robert Collyer to Mr. Thoreau, 22 May [18--]; Charles Wyatt Rice to Friend David, Brookfield, 1836 July 31 (referring to Thoreau’s pursuit of "indian remains"); E[lizabeth] Oakes Smith to Henry Thoreau, Brooklyn, 1855 Feb. 14 (asking Thoreau to inquire about possibility of her lecturing on Margaret Fuller in Concord; this letter accompanied by typed transcript).
SOURCES OF ACQUISITION: Multiple:
Bulk of surveys and survey-related materials (including volume of field notes) deposited in Concord Free Public Library by Sophia Thoreau, 1874/75, bequeathed to Library by Sophia Thoreau, 1876/77.Two surveys (unspecified) presented by Wallace A. Calef, 1899/1900.
Survey 90a presented by Mrs. Stedman Buttrick, Sr.
Receipt to Town of Concord presented by Dr. Randolph Piper, 1969.
Manuscript "Walking" presented by James T. Fields in honor of opening of Concord Free Public Library, Sept., 1873.
R. Collyer letter deposited by the Concord Antiquarian Society in 1971, converted to gift in 1974 (formerly CAS item no. D-2030j).
C.W. Rice and E.O. Smith letters purchased in 1992.
ITEMS AVAILABLE ON MICROFILM: Surveys, volume of field notes, and "Walking" manuscript available on microfilm, for use in Library.
PUBLICATIONS BASED ON USE OF MATERIAL:
Thoreau, Henry David. "Walking." Atlantic Monthly, v. 9, no. 56 (June, 1862), p. [657]-674 (piece printed from publisher’s manuscript of "Walking" later presented to Library).Moss, Marcia. A Catalog of Thoreau’s Surveys in the Concord Free Public Library (Geneseo, N.Y.: Thoreau Society, 1976).
Cameron, Kenneth Walter. Thoreau’s Canadian Notebook and Record of Surveys (Hartford, Conn.: Transcendental Books, c1967).
ASSOCIATED MATERIALS: Other significant collections of Henry David Thoreau manuscript material are found in the Houghton Library (Harvard University), the Abernethy Library (Middlebury College), the Berg Collection (New York Public Library), the Pierpont Morgan Library, and the Henry E. Huntington Library.
The Concord Free Public Library also holds a number of archival, manuscript, printed, and photographic collections relating to Thoreau.
NOTES/COMMENTS: One item (Robert Collyer letter) transferred from Letter File (formerly Letter File 1, C17), Mar. 1995. "Walking" manuscript accessioned (accession number 8581), Sept., 1873. Survey collection, volume of field notes, and "Walking" manuscript sent to NEDCC for various conservation/preservation treatments (dry cleaning, washing where possible, deacidification, encapsulation of surveys, microfilming, etc.), ca. 1975-1977 and 1997.
PROCESSING NOTE: Papers processed and cataloged through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Microfilm of field notes and surveys prepared at the Northeast Document Conservation Center, through a grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Processed by DW (intern) and LPW; finding aid prepared 1/8/97, revised 1998, 1999.
CONTAINER LIST (COMPLETE ITEM-BY-ITEM LISTING OF COLLECTION)
Series I. Surveys, 1846-1860:
Note: The survey captions are Thoreau's own.
TO VIEW A SURVEY, CLICK ON THE SURVEY NUMBER
Permission must be obtained from the Concord Free Public Library to publish these images in any form, including electronic.
Survey number, title and date:
1 Acton/Concord Town Line ... [Sept. 15, 1851]
2a Plan of A. Bronson Alcott's Estate; Concord, Mass. ... Sept. 22, 1857
2b [Draft of 2a] Sept. 22, 1857
3 Plan of a Woodlot Near Flint's Pond in Lincoln, Mass. Belonging to Jacob Baker ... Apr. 23, 1852
4 Plan ... of a Small Woodlot in ... Concord--Belonging to Prescott Barrett ... June 10, 1859
5 Plan of a Part of Samuel Barrett's Woodlot Near Annursnack ... Dec. 6, 1851
6 Plan of a Piece of Woodland Belonging to the Estate of Caleb Bates Deceased ... Dec. 22, 1857
7a Plan of the Court House Grounds and Adjacent Lots ... June 13, 1850
7b Burying Ground Street ... July 1853
7c New Road Toward Bedford ... July 1853
7d Plan of the Town House Lot ... June 13, 1850
7e Profile View of the Third Section of the New Bedford Road ... [n.d.] (rolled survey)
7g Plan of the Bedford Road at Moore's Swamp (Between the Fences) ... May 3, 1859
7i Plan of a New Road from the N.E. Burying Ground in Concord to William Pedrick's House ... July 1853
10 Plan of a Woodlot in the South Part of Concord Belonging to Abel Brooks ... Dec. 29, 1857
11 Plan of the Noah & Joshua Brooks Farm in Lincoln Mass. ... May 26-8-9-+31st, 1852
13 J.P. Brown's Woodlot Sold to Wm Wheeler Dec. 19-21, [18]53
14a Plan of Woodland on Fair Haven Hill in Concord, Mass. Belonging to Reuben Brown ... Oct. 22, 1851
14b Mainly From Hub[bard']s Plan of Brown's Farm ... [n.d.]
14c [Draft and notes for 14a; n.d., ca. Oct., 1851]
18 Plan of the Boundary Line Between Concord & Carlisle ... Dec. 1851
24b Plan Showing the Relation of a Proposed Street to the Depot and Neighboring Streets ... Sept. 1850
25a [Edward Damon factory site, May 6, 7, 13, 14, 1859]
25b-f [Rough drafts of Edward Damon's factory lot and other properties; 5 items; n.d.]
28 Plan of a Piece of Meadow in the Easterly Part of Concord Belonging to Mr Ellis ... Dec. 24, 1857
31a RWE [Ralph Waldo Emerson] Lot by Walden ... Dec. 1857
31b RWE's Woodlot by Walden ... [n.d.]
32 Moore & Hosmer's Lot by RRoad 1849-50
35b [Untitled; Goose Pond/Walden Pond area] Jan. 2, [18]58
35c Heirs of John Richardson R.T.S. [n.d.]
35d Goose Pond Lots R.T.S. [n.d.]
36 Plan of North Part of R.W.E. Woodlot Burned Last March ... Apr. 30, 1860
38.5 Plan of Land on the Bedford Road Belonging to RWE ... Sept. 16, [18]59
42 Plan of Robert D. Gilson's Mill in Littleton Mass ... May 9, [18]57
43 Plan of Charles Gordon's Farm Concord Mass. ... Mar. 23, 1858
44 Plan of Land in Concord Mass., Conveyed by E.R. Hoar to F.R. Gourgas ... Apr. 30, 1853
45 Plan of a House Lot in Lincoln Mass. Belonging to Miss Maria Green ... Aug. 31, 1854
48 Plan of Roads from J Hapgood's House to the Centre of Acton ... June 20, 1850 ...
49 Plan of a Woodlot in Acton Mass. Belonging to Simon Hapgood ... Dec. 15, 1853
51a Plan of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Estate in Concord Mass. ... Aug. 20, 1860
57 Plan of a Woodlot in Concord Mass. Belonging to Tilly Holden ... Dec. 9, 1854
58a Plan of a Woodlot in Acton, Mass., Belonging to Abel Hosmer of Concord, Mass. ... Apr. 4, 1854
58b [Draft of 58a] Apr. 4, 1854
60a Plan of Edmund Hosmer's Farm in Concord Mass. ... June 17, 18, & 21, 1851
60b [Copy of 60a on cloth] June 1851
60c [Draft of 60a] June 17, 18, & 21, 1851
61 Jesse Hosmer's Farm ... Spring of [18]50 [date from reverse of survey]
63c Moore & Hosmer Woodlots by Walden [n.d.]
64 Plans of Woodlot Belonging to John Hosmer ... Oct. 29, [18]59
65b [Draft of 65a] May 3, 1851
66 Plan of Silas Hosmer's House Lot, in Concord, Mass. ... May 15, 1852
68 A Plot of Abel Moore & John Hosmer's Woodlot 1842 (by Hubbard) ... Copied Dec. [18]57
69 Plan of Land in Haverhill Mass. Belonging to Elizabeth How ... Apr. 20-21, 1853
70 E. [Ebenezer] Hubbard Lot ... [n.d.]
72 Plan of T.F. Hunt's House Lot in Concord Mass. ... Oct. 17, 1853
76c [Draft of inset plan of Davis lot on 76a; n.d.]
78 Plan of Land Near the Factory Village, Concord, Mass. Owned by Thomas Lord ... Apr. 12, 1851
80a-g [Plans for a cow barn and stanchion to be built in Northboro; Dec. 16, 1850]:
80a [Cow Barn] West Side
80b [Cow Barn] Ground
80c [Cow Barn] South End
80d [Cow Barn--north end?]
80e [Cow Barn]
80f Stanchions for Cows ...
80g Stanchions for Cows ...
81a [Land Near Depot (Loring, Wheeler, etc.)], June 21, [18]52
81b Rough Plan of Land Near the Depot in Concord Mass. Belonging to David Loring
82 Plan of the House Lot of David Loring in Concord, Mass. ... Sep. 17, 1856
84 George Loring--[plan for lead pipe machine] Sep. 15, [18]52
85a Plan of Land Owned by James McCafferty, in the East Part of Concord, Mass. ... March & April 1851
85b [Draft of 85a] March & April 1851
86 Plan of Land in Concord, Mass. Belonging to Barnard MacKay ... May 25, [18]52
88b Plan of the Same Premises with Additions in Nov. 1855 ... Oct. 31, [18]55
88c View of the North Side or Rear of the Buildings Oct. 31, [18]55
88d Land Belonging to the Mill Dam Company ... Apr. 30, 1853
90a Plan of Part of the Ministerial Lot, in the Southeast Part of Concord ... Dec. 9, [18]51
90b [Draft of 90a] Dec. 9, [18]51
91 Plan of Geo. Minot's Land on the Mill Brook ... Aug. 30 & 31, 1860
93a Plan of a Piece of Land in Concord Mass. Belonging to William Monroe Jr. ... Dec. 4, 1860
93b Plan of Land in Concord Mass. Belonging to William Monroe Jr. ... Dec. 1, 1860
94a Plan of John B. Moore's Farm Concord Mass. ... Feb. 1853
94c Plan of John B. Moore's Farm ... Apr. 1860 [apparently the draft for printed plan 94b]
95 Plan of Land in Lincoln Mass. Belonging to Rufus Morse ... Aug. 17, [18]59
96 Copied from Warren Nixon's Plan Made for Bartlett June 27, [18]56 ...
97 Plan of a Woodlot in Lincoln Mass. Belonging to Schuyler Parks ... Apr. 12, 1854
99a Plan of Land in the Southwest Part of Concord Mass. Belonging to John Reynolds ... May 17, [18]53
99b Plan of John Reynolds' Premises, Concord Mass. ... March 17, 1854
102 Plan of Land in Lincoln Mass. Belonging to Wm Rice ... Jan. 20, 1858
103 Plan of a Woodlot in Lincoln & Waltham Belonging to the Heirs of John Richardson ... Nov. 12, [18]53
104 J. Richardson's Heirs Walden Pond Lot Dec. 2 & 3, 1857
106 Rufus Morse [and] Heirs of John Richardson ... Dec. [18]57
108 Plan of Daniel Shattuck's Cottage House Lot on the Main Street in Concord Mass. ... June 19, 1850
110 Plan of a Woodlot in Concord Mass. Belonging to Daniel Shattuck ... Sept. 11, 1854
113 Plan of the Estate of Daniel Shattuck in Concord Mass. ... Sept. 29, 1860
116 [For Marcus Spring] Eagleswood, Perth Amboy [N.J.] Nov. 1856
117 Plan of a Woodlot in the North Part of Framingham Mass. Belonging to Sarah Stacy ... Aug. 3, 1853
119 Plan of a Woodlot Near Walden Pond Belonging to Samuel Staples ... Dec. 8, [18]57
120 Plan of a Woodlot in the Southwesterly Part of Concord Belonging to Cyrus Stow ... Nov. 14, 1850
121b Plan of a Woodlot Near Flint's Pond, Lincoln Mass. Belonging to Cyrus Stow ... May 9, [18]59
125a Plan of Cyrus Stow's Grounds, Concord Mass. ... Oct. 28, 1851
125b Stow's Yard Plan of Front Yard [n.d.; ca. Oct. 1851]
125c Front View of Fence [Stow's; n.d.]
126 Nathan & Cyrus Stow ... Jan. 12, 1858
127 Ground Plan of Louis A. Surette's Cemetery Lot ... March 31, [18]57
128 Plan of Meadow Land in Concord Mass. Belonging to Cyrus Temple ... Oct. 3, 1860
129 Plan of the Yellow House Lot, so called ... May 25, 1850
131 Plan of Augustus Tuttle's Farm, Concord Mass. ... Aug. 1853
132a Plan of a Woodlot in Lincoln Mass., Belonging to Augustus Tuttle ... June 21, 1855
132b [Draft of 132a] June 21, 1855
133a Walden Pond [1846]
133b Walden Pond [draft of 133a; 1846]
133c Walden Pond R.T.S. [n.d.]
135 Isaac Watts' Woodlot Nov. 1849
136 Plan of Land in Lincoln Mass., Belonging to Daniel Weston ... Aug. 17, 1852
137 Plan of Land in Lincoln Mass., Belonging to Daniel Weston ... Dec. 13, 1852
138 Plan of Land in Lincoln Mass., Belonging to Daniel Weston ... Dec. 17, [18]53
142a Texas Road [draft; June, 1852]
144 Plan of the "House Lot" of Thomas Wheeler Concord Mass. ... Apr. 30, 1856
145a Plan of the "Ox Pasture" (so called) Belonging to Thomas Wheeler Concord, Mass. ... May 5, [18]56
149 Plan of Cemetery Lots for Mrs. Whitman May 24, [18]56
150b [Draft of 150a] May 6, [18]59
152a Plan of the Road at the East Quarter School ... Nov. 9, 1855
152b [Draft of 152a]
152c [Draft of 152a]
156b [Untitled; a more detailed copy of 156a; n.d.]
157 [Cape Cod; n.d.]
158 Nantucket [n.d.]
159 Unidentified
160 Unidentified
162 Norumbega et Virginia 1597 ... copied ... Sept. 17, [18]55
163 Road Between Acton Center & West Acton Nov. 27[?], [18]50
Series II. Survey-Related Notes, Mss., Etc., 1840-1861:
Box 1, Folder 1
7k. Misc. notes on the new Bedford Road (relating to surveys 7a-7j), [n.d.]
Box 1, Folder 2
25g. Misc. notes for Damon properties (relating to surveys 25a-f), 1 item, 1860
Box 1, Folder 3
29b. Misc. notes for plan of Lee Farm (survey 29a), 1857
Box 1, Folder 4
31c. Misc. notes on Emerson properties (relating to surveys 31a-b)
Box 1, Folder 5
107c. Drafts and notes for "Statistics of the Bridges Over Concord River, Between Heard’s Bridge and Billerica Dam ..." (survey item 107b), 3 items, 1859
Box 1, Folder 6
107d. Misc. notes for river survey (107a) and "Statistics of the Bridges ... " (107b), 1852, 1853, 1859, [n.d.] -- Includes contemporary clipping relating to court case
Box 1, Folder 7
107e. Correspondence, mostly concerning river survey (107a), 5 items, 1859, [n.d.]
Box 1, Folder 8
145b. Misc. notes for plan of "Ox Pasture" belonging to Thomas Wheeler (145a), 1856
Box 1, Folder 9
165. Misc. survey notes, approx. 48 items, 1840-1856, [n.d.]
Box 1, Folder 10
166. Ms. and letter fragments with survey notes, 5 items:
-"This process by which we get our coats is not what it should be"
-Draft of first part of letter [to H.G.O. Blake], 1856 Nov. (relating to survey 116, for Marcus Spring)
-Note by Walter Harding about the letter fragment, 1969 Aug. 8
-"But they did not all ... arrive in Dunstable ... "
Box 1, Folder 11
Field-Notes of Surveys Made by Henry D. Thoreau Since November 1849, ms. volume containing entries dated 1849-1861
Box 1, Folder 12
Receipts for payment for surveys, 2 items, 1852, 1861:
-1852 June 10, to Nathan Brooks, for survey of "Farm in Lincoln Mass." [this receipt possibly removed from Nathan Brooks Family Papers prior to their processing in 1995/96]
-1861 Nov. 20, to Town of Concord, for "inspecting the Stone Bridge, on the Main Stream" (gift of Dr. Randolph Piper, May 5, 1969)
SERIES III. MANUSCRIPTS, [1862], [n.d.]:
Box 2, Folder 1
"Walking", printer’s manuscript for publication in AtlanticMonthly (v. 9, no. 56, June, 1862), [1862]
Box 2, Folder 2
Photocopy of manuscript "Walking"
Box 2, Folder 3
Typed transcript (1975) by Thomas Blanding from "Walking" manuscript in Concord Free Public Library
Box 2, Folder 4
Photocopy of printed piece "Walking" in Atlantic Monthly (v. 9, no. 56, June, 1862, p. [657]-674)
Box 2, Folder 5
Manuscript note, "In a low level upon ... a branch of Merrimack is seated Concord ... "
Box 2, Folder 6
Manuscript fragment and printed items removed from 1854 Smithsonian annual report
Series IV. Correspondence, 1836, 1855, [n.d.]:
Box 2, Folder 7
-Robert Collyer to Mr. Thoreau, Chicago, 22 May [18--] (CAS D-2030j; formerly Letter File 1, C17)
-Charles Wyatt Rice to Friend David, Brookfield, 1836 July 31; referring to Thoreau’s pursuit of "indian remains" (Purchased 1992 through the Bonnie Bracker Fund)
-E[lizabeth] Oakes Smith to Henry Thoreau, Brooklyn, 1855 Feb. 14 (plus typed transcript), asking Thoreau to inquire about possibility of her lecturing on Margaret Fuller in Concord (Purchased 1992 through the Bonnie Bracker Fund)
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Mounted 27 July 1999; revuised 3 June 2006. rcwh.